By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Chung Un-chan is under fire for changing his positions on the Sejong City and four-river refurbishment projects.
This led to some ruling and opposition party lawmakers to take a stand against Chung Wednesday, urging him to be consistent.
Rep. Hong Joon-pyo of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) complained of the prime minister's flip-flopping on the two initiatives.
During a meeting of members of the party's decision-making Supreme Council and senior lawmakers, Hong argued the ruling party should be responsible for Chung's zigzagging on the issues.
The former GNP floor leader pointed to next year's local elections where, campaign watchers say, the two major projects will have considerable effect on voters' choice of candidates.
Before assuming the crucial post, Chung, former president of Seoul National University, was an open critic of President Lee Myung-bak and assailed him bitterly when he unveiled major initiatives, such as tax-cuts and the four-river project.
After becoming prime minister, Chung has defended Lee's stance on the Sejong City project, calling for replacing the plan to relocate nine ministries and four government agencies from Seoul to Sejong City with an alternative plan.
As an alternative plan, Chung has mentioned a variety of options, including a science belt and an educational hub.
The professor-turned-prime minister, however, switched his position early December during a debate with senior journalists, saying he would keep all options open including the initial plan.
``All those ministries and government agencies may be relocated to Sejong City, or none of them may move,'' he said.
Last week, he also hinted at a slowdown of the four-river project. Regarding the plan, President Lee had said earlier that the nation had no time to lose.
In a response to GNP lawmaker Jeong Tae-keun's question of his view on the four-river project, Chung said the government had no compelling reason to hurry as local residents, lawmakers and even mayors opposed it.
His wavering over the two major projects have made ruling party lawmakers, including Reps. Hong and Ahn Sang-soo, feel uncomfortable with him.
The backlash came as those ruling party lawmakers believe Chung's shifting positions not only would confuse the public, but also would deal a blow to the GNP in next year's local elections.
Last week, Ahn, the party's floor leader, expressed worries over the Prime Minister's faltering over Sejong City and proposed the Office of the Prime Minister delay the announcement of the new plan until early January.
Hong urged Chung to stick with the government's official stance, saying the Sejong City and the four-river projects are major initiatives that President Lee has pushed at the risk of deteriorating public opinion.
This is because Lee firmly believes those projects will pay off in the long run, he added.
Rep. Kim Nak-sung of the Liberty Forward Party said Chung has switched his position on the nature of Sejong City nine times in total since he took office in September.
Chung also flip-flopped on the budget for the project by promising an increase at one time and later a decrease.
Kim advised Chung to maintain consistent, warning otherwise he would fail to maintain public trust.